National Magic
by MysticDayze
Summary: England offers help to Albus Dumbledore in the form of three of his colleagues to help protect and watch over Hogwarts. Unfortunately for those nations, keeping a huge secret in Hogwarts is nearly impossible. May be some blood and mild Language; K
1. Chapter 1

**A new "multipleshot" short-ish fanfic idea that sprung into my mind the other day. I know there are a lot of Heta-Harry crossovers, but I think that this is original enough. I just love the thought of Italy Assisting Snape's class. Reviews are very much appreciated, Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Year 6:<strong>

"Did you see him?"

"Yeah, isn't he adorable, his accent is so… so _foreign!_"

The Patil twins giggled behind their hands as the new boy walked by with an armful of books. He was a dark ginger with a funny curl and squinty eyes. Luna couldn't take her eyes off him.

"Hey loony, getting off or are you just going to sit there all night?" Ron's voice cut through her thoughts and brought her back to "reality."

"Yes, I'm coming… just wait one moment please." She lifted her basket and looked around for the strange boy as she stepped off the Thestral carriage, but he was gone.

"Oh dear, I suppose I'll have to find him later. He looks like such an interesting person." She sighed to herself and glided up the walk quickly to catch up to her friends.

= . =

V

"So Slughorn's the new Defense against the Dark Arts Teacher?" Ron asked through a mouthful of chicken, clearly to the disgust of Hermione and Ginny on either side of him.

"I guess so, wonder how long he'll last though." Harry had just gotten back from the Infirmity Ward and was glaring daggers at Malfoy who sneered back.

"Maybe he isn't here for defense against the dark arts at all" Hermione suggested, still wrinkling her nose from the disgust of having to watch Ron pile food into his bottomless gut.

Harry reached for a chip but just as he did, the dinner platters were replaced with dessert and he cursed under his breath.

"God, I hate Malfoy."

"Ciao there friends!" A strange looking kid sidled up to the Gryffindor table, scootching in between Neville and Luna, who had a strange expression (well, stranger than usual) on her face "You don't-a happen to-a know where the dining hall-a is, do you?"

"Err, yer kinda in it…" Ron looked at the darker non-freckled ginger with something like jealousy.

"Wha?" the weirdo opened his eyes for the first time since he'd arrived.

They were a soft shade of brown with a bright, confused expression. He looked down at the pudding laden dishes slowly lessening in their contents as Ron gorged himself incessantly.

"This is food?" His brow wrinkled in adorable disgust. Ron stared with an open (and full…) mouth.

"Yer joking, right?"

Before their new friend could answer, the dishes were cleared and the hall suddenly became silent as Dumbledore stood, arms outstretched.

"Welcome back for another year! Now that we have all filled our bellies with food and drink, I'm sure you're all ready to go to bed and rest your weary heads, but first, some announcements. For those of you who are new, the Forbidden forest is off-limits and no magic is to be used in the hallways outside of classes. Our Caretaker Argus Filch also wishes me to remind you all that any products purchased from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes will be confiscated and the individuals found with them given detention. Also, we have some new staff assignments for this year."

Here he paused and gestured to Slughorn who stood up and bowed (with difficulty over his bulky middle) to all four tables, his eyes landing on Harry with a wink.

"Professor Horace Slughorn will be graciously resuming his old role as Potion's Master-"

Here he had to pause again from the gasp and mutterings from the students.

"What? But what about Snape?" Ron and Harry exchanged a look.

"And Severus Snape will be taking the position of Defense against the Dark Arts Teacher."

Another loud exchange of voices as the sneering teacher locked eyes with Harry from up at the head table. Harry growled to himself.

"Now, one last thing before we disperse to bed, this year because of the looming threat of Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort (the hall shuddered collectively) we will be having a number of teaching assistants aiding our senior professors. Two of the three are still on their way here, but I believe that some of you have met the Potions assistant-"

The hall murmured again. Who could it be? There was the same number of teachers up at the head table as usual so who…?

"Feliciano, are you there?"

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes rested on the boy next to Neville and all as one, the students and teachers turned to get a look at him.

"Hmm? Oh! Me, I mean, yes-a, that's me! Ha ha ve~" He tried to get up, tripped over the bench, grabbed on to Seamus Finnegan from behind to steady himself, (pulling the boy backwards by accident) stood up straight and rushed up to the head table, passed through a ghost, yelped like a puppy, stripped on the steps and (after upsetting Professor McGonagall's goblet) managed to stand between Snape and Dumbledore. Snape looked incredulously back and forth from Albus to his new TA.

"Staff, students, ghosts; it is my honor to introduce Feliciano Vargas as our newest staff member and assistant Professor of Defense against the Dark Arts."

He had to be Joking.

=).( =

U

"Seriously I mean, what is this school coming to? It's bad enough that he's a muggle, but an ITALIAN muggle? Honestly, sometimes I think Dumbledore has gone _perfectly mad._"

Malfoy's familiar drawl was, as usual, loud enough for the world to hear. Hermoine glared daggers at him, Pansy, and the rest of their snickering gang.

"How dare him! Not only is he being openly racist, he's being openly racist about a _teacher_! The nerve of that git!" She hissed into her porridge.

"Yeah well, doesn't seem like the guy minds all that much. Mind you, he's not exactly the most aware chap in the world." Ron nodded toward the head table where Feliciano was making little moats in his porridge and happily staring absently into space with his mouth open. This seemed to annoy the crap out of Snape, much to Harry's pleasure.

"Wonder how old he is," Harry mused out loud. The TA only looked 16 and acted at least ten years younger. How he was a teacher, Harry couldn't figure.

"Oh, he's probably an immortal," Luna answered, making Harry jump. She'd been standing right behind him, staring dreamily at the TA, "They often have an air of childish innocence hiding their wisdom. Father published an article on them once."

"Err… right," They should have been used to her ponderings by now, but they weren't.

A flash of red suddenly caught everyone's attention as the infamous envelope sailed into the hall clutched in the talons of a barn owl. The hall immediately hushed and all eyes watched in dreaded excitement as the howler dropped into the porridge of a certain oblivious TA.

With a confused, curious look, the poor boy picked up and slit open his scarlet letter. And all hell broke loose.

"VENICIANO YOU DIRTY RAT! WHAT DO YOU THINK-A YOU'RE-A DOING? HUH? CHIGI! YOU DAMN JERK, HOW CAN YOU JUST-A UP AND LEAVE AND LEAVE ME WITH ALL-A THE WORK! AND THAT IDIOT SPANIARD KEEPS OFFERING TO HELP LIKE I CAN'T-A FUNCTION ON MY OWN! STUPID LITTLE BROTHER!"

A stream of vibrant curses followed causing the older students to hurriedly cover the ears of their younger peers. McGonagall was clearly fuming, but Dumbledore simply looked amused. Feliciano, on the other hand, was desperately waving the envelope around trying to make it shut up while knocking over his chair and porridge as well as (for the second time in 24 hours) Professor McGonagall's goblet. It was a comical scene.

The howler's voice changed suddenly to a different accent, though the original voice could be heard in the background still screaming in Italian.

"Hi Ita, que paso?" the cheerful voice asked, although since it was a howler; it was still screaming, only friendlier. "Sorry about Roma, he bullied Romania into giving him one of these so he could bother you. Lo siento. Hope you do well in your new job, Buenos Suerte!" This sender obviously didn't understand the purpose of a Howler.

Feliciano yelped as the message burst into flames and crumpled into ashes. His eyes started to tear up and he ran out of the hall (after crashing into a suit of armor and sending it clattering to the floor) as he wailed apologies in his heavy accent.

"I'm-a so sorry! Wahh!"

Silence followed his exodus for a long moment. Then, laughter erupted through the hall. Only Snape and McGonagall kept straight faces, though a hint of a smile played on the transfiguration professor's lips. Snape, it seemed, was simply thinking about how, in a few hours, he would be forced to share a classroom with the blundering walking disaster. Suddenly, the day's prospects seemed a lot brighter for Harry and his friends.

Only later would they realize that Luna had left the hall at the same time as Feliciano.

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><p><strong>It was <strong>either Italy or Germany. Since no one trusted Prussia to take care of finances and country affairs while Germany was gone, the vote was unanimous. Personally, England would have preferred the potato muncher to be at Hogwarts, but he didn't have much of a choice. Italy would at least serve as a distraction.

He'd been contacted by Dumbledore over the Summer almost out of the blue. Arthur Kirkland had been busy baking in the kitchen when he got the feeling that someone was watching him. So he'd turned around, and nearly suffered a heart attack.

"Ah, Albus don't do that!" He gasped for breath as the tall old wizard bent over his stove and dipped a finger in the scone batter. He immediately winced.

"Have you ever considered using magic to help you cook?" The Professor asked merrily, while adding salt to the batter with his back to England.

"My cooking is perfectly fine thank you very much!" The younger (looking) man huffed.

_Fine for poisoning harpies_ The wizard thought, but refrained from saying out loud as the nation removed his apron and offered his guest a seat.

"I understand that you know why I'm here?" Albus Dumbledore asked as the other man brought over and poured him some tea. "Thank you, Arthur."

'You're welcome and yes, I have a pretty good idea of why you've come. It has to do with Riddle, doesn't it?" The blond sat across from his guest and sipped his own tea slowly.

"Yes. As you know," the old man looked at the bandages just barely peeking out of the neck of England's shirt. "Voldemort is back."

"Yes, I've known for two years since you first told me," he nodded "But the ministry, both ministries have only just recognized the threat, true?"

"Very true. He has also been acting in secret for a time, but it seems that he has finally chosen to act. The hurricane in West Country-"

"The bridge and the Bones/Vance murders. Yes, I've felt them." He grimaced "But I suppose you didn't just come here to tell me this?"

"No. Actually, I have a favor"

"**So **I need three nations to volunteer to help out." He finished explaining and looked at the congregated nations. England had finally managed to grab their attention through a floating banner which magically wrote out what he was saying behind him. It was the first time that the entire room had actually paid attention (or at least looked in his general direction) to what he was saying. Even America was staring at him with a gaping mouth.

It gave Arthur England great satisfaction to know that they finally believed he was a wizard. _Doubt my magic, will you_ He thought to himself smugly.

"Any takers? Eh, come on, anyone? You can nominate a friend or enemy if you'd like."

And so, through lengthy debate, they had picked three. Since it had been short notice (getting all the UN together was a tough task) two of them were still preparing to leave by the start of term. Truthfully, England was slightly nervous with the line-up, but Dumbledore had needed at least three in case of the worst. And from what he'd been told, England desperately hoped that the worst wouldn't happen. If it did…

Something else was bothering the nation. When they'd talked, he'd noticed Dumbledore's hand was black and shriveled. This had led to the mistake of his asking about it. From what he could tell, the explanation hadn't been a lie. He wished it had. Now, in addition to the looming threat, they were racing against the clock.

He sipped his tea now, by the window of his parlor, looking out at the ever present rain. Another convulsion gripped him and he reached for his pills. _Come on_ _Harry, pull through. I need you, lad._


	2. Chapter 2

**Short chapters= short update interval.**

**I want to get this story done(and have fun with it) so I can focus on my major story. This is lighter for me to write and I hope easily Enjoyable.**

**I really appreciate all the feedback and watchers.**

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><p>The passenger shifted in his seat again. It was a strange bus filled with strange people, but he didn't mind. The only thing bothering the man was the constant rain.<p>

_It is so wet here… so odd…_

He'd been in the country three days, but not one of them was sunny. On the one day it didn't rain; gray oppressive clouds loomed thick over the city skylines. Huh. And he'd thought his country was gloomy.

Ivan snuggled deeper into his scarf. It was always so warm and smelled of his farmland. He smiled happily as he thought of all the new people he would be meeting in just a few hours. He was nervous, but it would be fun.

The passenger was oblivious to the looks he was getting from his fellow passengers. The fact that his chair had not moved an inch on the whole journey from London on the Knight Bus was miraculous. Inhuman. How the bloody hell had he not slid at all? The strange man was thinking the same of them and their green faces as the bus banged once more and slid to a stop.

_English people have such weak stomachs, da?_

He chuckled to himself and stood. He had arrived.

- ﺩ -

V

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><p>"And now that introductions are out of the way once again, I hope one of you is useful enough to explain how you would defend yourself against a vampire attack- yes, Mr. Vargas?"<p>

"You surrender, kiss their feet and wave a white flag of defeat!"

The class erupted into laughter that was quickly silenced by a deadly glance from their professor.

"Do you _want _to have all the life blood in your body to be drained out? Anyone els- Mr. Vargas you have something _else_ to add?"

Slytherin snickered for the second time in that class.

The truth was that day one of his new teaching job hadn't started off well at all for poor Feliciano. In addition to the fiasco at breakfast; he had successfully gotten lost 37 times, been attacked by both Peeves and Mrs. Norris (he'd trod on her tail) and arrived 15 minutes to his first class of the day. Not only had it been severely humiliating, he had barged in halfway through Severus' "Welcome Back" speech to his sixth years.

Pausing, the professor had smiled thinly and, sneeringly, addressed the Italian.

"Ah Mister Vargas, How _kind _of you to finally join us," The sarcastic stab drew some snickers form the Slytherins, especially Draco and his buddies.

No one expected what came next.

"I'm-a so sorry!" The young teacher wailed and, in a blink, was up at the professor's desk confessing all of his sins and begging that he spare him from the paddle (Filch had already threatened him, mistaking him for a student).

"I'm a good little Italian! I promise I won't ever be-a late just please don't hurt –a meeeeee!"

Snape had blinked and, looking both confused and incredibly irritated, ordered the sniveling little man to get on his feet and take a seat in the corner of the room. This the kid did willingly, brightening up instantly as soon as he was certain that Snape wouldn't whip him or "use the belt" (he'd actually said that as he thanked him for sparing his life).

Now Feliciano was sitting on a stool humming to himself and kicking his heels together with his hand waving in the air to answer Snape's question. He saluted and stuck his hand out triumphantly.

"You run away!"

There was a slight pause before Snape turned back to the class.

"Does anyone, aside from Miss. Granger, know how fast the average vampire can run when on a kill?"

"40.75 kilometers per hour, sir."

"Get out of the classroom, Iris!" The seventh year student stood and skipped out through the dungeon doors. It was a common occurrence and not regarded with any importance.

"But yes, the average speed of a vampire is around fourty kilometers per hour. So, _Mister_ Vargas, do you have the ability to run over twenty kpm?"

His face lit up for a second, but then he shifted and looked at the ground.

"No-"

Snape sneered in triumph.

"But even if I-a can't, if you release garlic powder behind-a you as you-a run, the wind stream should-a blow it straight into their face, thus-a rendering the vampire either disabled or at least-a temporarily distracted and, as you are-a already running away, you can put a lot more-a distance between-a them and yourselves giving you-a an overall better chance of survival!"

Silence, absolute silence.

Snape was gripping the desk and an angry vein could be seen throbbing in his forehead. Finally, he managed to speak.

"That is a good answer, Vargas," each word dripped with venom, "But the question. Was for. The students."

"Ve~?"

Severus slammed his hand down on the desk, upsetting an ink well and causing Feliciano to start freaking out again. So much so that he ran right out of the room wailing.

Snape turned to his students and opened his mouth just as the bell for the end of the period sounded and everyone made for the doors. An angry Snape was not someone even Malfoy wanted to be around.

'~=.=~'

* * *

><p>"Y'know who that bloke reminds me of?" Ron said during lunch as he stuffed himself with curry.<p>

"Who?"

"The Feliciano dude."

"Ah."

"Anyway, he's kinda like what you would get if you mixed Wormtail and Dobby together. I mean seriously, the guy's a nut case."

"Very creative though, that whole thing about the garlic powder…"

"Ooh Hermione's got a crush! Whatever happened to Viktor, hm? Forget him already?"

"Shut up Ron! I was.. I was just remarking on his ability to come up with a defense that didn't involve magic is all." She blushed bright red.

"Oh sure."

"Shut up!"

"I think he kinda sound's like Mario." Harry mused, looking up at the head table where the topic of discussion was carefully taking teeny weeny bites of his meal with a funny look on his face.

"Whose Mario?" Ron asked through a mouthful of bread.

"A video game character."

"A what a what a?"

"Nevermind… who's that?"

He'd just noticed a stranger lounging against the wall of the hall near the head table. Harry wasn't the only one looking at him; there were nervous looking Hufflepuffs muttering amongst themselves close to where he stood. The stranger, however, seemed to be half asleep and was unaware of any looks he was getting. For some reason, Filch seemed smug. That didn't bode very well. Not well at all.

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><p><strong>He was<strong> so nervous, but at the same time: really excited. This would be the first time he was taking a job outside of his own country where he wouldn't be around his brother all the time. Matt just hoped that the people would actually notice him this time.

Dumbledore's office was bright and interesting. The portraits on the walls went back really far; one or two of the headmasters had taken office before Matthew had even been born. Wow.

He fed Fawks a cracker and surveyed his surrounding once more. It was familiar but so different since the last time he'd been here. Let's see, that had been in the early 1700s…

"_Boys, sit still and behave yourselves. We want to make a good impression so Alfred; mind your manners."_

"_But I'm bored! I've been sitting here for hours!"_

"_Son, it's been five minutes."_

"_That's hours in dog years!"_

"_No, no it isn't. Hush now, here he comes."_

_Matthew had sat quietly this whole time just watching Aflred fidget. Arthur ruffled his son's hair distractedly before standing to bow to the headmaster. Then they started to talk buisness._

"_Psst, Mattie!"_

"_Quoi?"_

"_What?"_

"_I said "what?""_

"_Ohhhh…You're so weird! Let's go on an adventure!"_

"_But Arthur said-"_

"_Arthur will be talking **for hours**. Besides, don't you want to see this place? It's huge!"_

_He'd hesitantly agreed and they slipped away unnoticed. And then, and then…_

Matthew broke off from his thoughts and frowned. He couldn't quite remember how that whole adventure had turned out. So he focused on the present again. From what the gargoyle had told him, Dumbledore was at lunch but would be back soon. Good; he was anxious to get started.

The boy hurriedly stood as he heard steps on the stairs.

_Here he comes, I hope he knows who I am…_

The door knob rattled and Matt's heart beat faster. What had he gotten himself into?

Then suddenly, with a bang, it fell clean off its hinges. Fawks flapped in alarm and Matt found himself staring into the smiling face of his twin brother.

Oh dear lord, no.

**When **Dumbledore came two his office, he noticed two things. One; his door was kicked down and two; there was a pair of people arguing inside the room. Or at least, one was weakly hitting the other and the one being hit was fake yawning and throwing insults at him.

"Ahem," The elderly headmaster cleared his throat loudly and chuckled at the two who froze immediately, "I suppose one of you is the cause for my fallen door?"

He pointed his wand at it and the door and hinges moved back into place on their own. The shorter haired man stared at him in shock and the other in awe.

"Woah, Nellie."

"Holly crap. Dude, how did you **do **that!"

Albus Dumbledore chuckled again and slid his wand up his sleeve. He took his place in his chair and leaned his elbows on his desk. Both of his guests tried to sit in the same chair which led to the shorter haired one just sitting on his (assumedly) brother's lap.

"Al! Get off!"

"Nu-uh. It's your fault for getting the chair!"

"Cut it out he's watching us, hoser!

"Here, allow me to assist." Dumbledore produced a chair from thin air which was taken immediately by "Al."

"So, you were sent by Mr. Kirkland, I assume?"

Nods.

"Both of you?"

"Uh well eh, you see.. I was supposed to be coming but-"

"No way dude! Iggy said **I **was the one supposed to come!"

"But, eh he pointed at me and said Canada-"

"Wait, whose Canada?"

"ME!"

"Oh! That makes a lot more sense… but why are your people Canad**ians**?"

"That isn't important Al-"  
>"I think it is. I mean phonetically that just doesn't work. Matt, you're name's totes messed up."<p>

"Well Excuse me mister United States OF America-eh!"

"Anyway," Dumbledore interjected, shutting them up. Both were probably hoping for more magic, "Regardless of who was originally intended to come, you are both here now. I don't see any point in refusing help I can use, so you can both stay on to be TA's. I'd been told a man named Matthew was coming, so… Alfred is it?"

"Yup! Alfred F. Jones!"

"Hm, Alfred, how would you like to assistant teach History of Magic?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay dudes! Here's Chapter 3! Sorry this took a while, but I was busy and lazy. Thank you so much for the humongous support I've gotten, over ten reviews is amazing for me being new and all and woah! Over 1000 hits is about a month! That's crazy! My other story is close and it's been out 3 months. Thanks guys!  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Collin<strong> and his pal Herb were being "super sneaky." After complaining about being hungry for three hours non-stop, an older student snapped and told them that, if they were so hungry, to go ask that crazy elf lady in the kitchens for food. He hadn't been serious, but the two decided to go anyway.

Feeling for the entire world like secret agents, the partners in crime stalked through the halls. They kept to the shadows even though they were both using the disillusionment charm, mainly because it felt cooler to "keep to the shadows." Double 0 Griffindors!

Collin suddenly stopped and put a finger to his lips, forgetting that Herbie couldn't see him. The other boy kept walking and literally smacked headfirst into someone. Herb scuttled back on his rear, but it was too late. Both boys found themselves in the grip of a mysterious man whose face was hidden in shadow. A sinister chuckle came from the stranger who held them both by their collars.

"Well well, what do we have here? Leetle childrens out of bed? my first day and you already misbehave. Hu huh, you are in very much trouble, da?"

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><p><strong>It's a<strong> nasty shock to walk into your room and find a strange half naked man changing his shirt.

Draco screamed like a little girl and turned away immediately. Crabbe and Goyle wanted badly to laugh, but knowing Malfoy's new position decided it would be wiser not to.

"Yo dudes!" The guy wriggled his head out of the shirt and laughed at their faces, "Name's Alfred F. Jones, I'm your new roomie! what's hanging, dogs?"

Malfoy was breathing slowly and furiously. He had a crap load of stress in his life right now, he did _not_ need anyone else entering the picture.

"Who. The. Bloody. Hell. Are you!" He managed to get out the words despite his still rapidly beating heart.

"Huh? I just said my name, didn't I?" The boy looked confused and his smile slid for a second before reappearing full force. "Haha! You mean who I _am._ Sorry kid, that's a secret!" He beamed, not noticing the two gargoyles cracking their knuckles menacingly.

"I _mean," _ Malfoy regained his normal drawl. "What are you _doing _here?"

"OHHHHH! I get it now! Like I said, I'm your roommate! There weren't any teacher offices left so Dumbledore said I could pick a house and Ravens are like, birds, I don't even know what a Griffin is or why it has a door and Hufflepuff reminds me too much of my brother and some weird Pokemon. Slytherin was the most BA sounding so I totes had to pick it and seriously, what is a Hufflepuff anway?"

All of this was in one breath. The American accent sounded foreign and the slang was so slurred and fast that Draco's head spun. There was one part he could make out, though.

"Wait,_ Dumbledore _sent _you?_"

Did he know? Had he guessed? Draco had a moment of panic before his sense of logic regained control. Of course not, there was no way he could have and besides, this boy was a complete lunatic, not to mention _clearly_ an idiot. He would be easy to manipulate and trick. Still, he was curious what the headmaster had to do with this weirdo.

"Yup, he sent me! Well, Matt says he sent _him _but he's a Canadian! Yeah, I'm your new assistant History of Magic teacher, isn't that totes awesome!"

No, no it was not.

* * *

><p><strong>He was<strong> completely lost. It was like trying to navigate through a labyrinth with talking pictures and ghosts. Matt wondered again whether Alfred had realized there were ghosts here yet or not. He was probably already at dinner; having a house to guide him. It wasn't as easy getting to the dining hall from the teachers' dorms…

"Oh! Well hello America!" A sweet and creepy voice reached him. Matt jumped about three feet. "Huhu! Even the big bad superpower can get ze jeebie heebies sometimes, da?"

"Yeah… _he_ can. I'm Canad- I mean Matthew. Ivan, we're supposed to use our human names… remember?"

He sighed exasperatedly. The Russian had caught him off guard (and mistaken him… again) but they were pretty good friends. Aside from the fact that Russia mistook him for America every time he saw him…

"Oh, I am sorry. I did not remember the name thing. Silly me." He smiled and Matt shivered. He should be used to Ivan's creepiness by now. He wasn't.

"Oh by the way," Matthew asked slowly, trying to sound nonchalant "are you headed to dinner?"

"Mmm hmm. You want to join me?"

"No I already told you- oh. To walk to dinner. Yeah sure, eh. It's not like I don't know where the dining hall is but ookay."

"You are completely lost, da?"

Aw maple…

* * *

><p>"<strong>Harry<strong>, Haarry, psst Harry-."

"What, Ron? I'm trying to eat."

"Look at the head table. Who's that guy next to Flitwick?"

There was indeed another man up at the table. Like Feliciano, he seemed much too young to be a teaching assistant but he also seemed a lot less overly cheerful. His hair was a darkish silvery blond with a little curl falling over his face and he wore a pair of glasses on the bridge of his nose. There also seemed to be something furry in his lap, but from this distance, Harry couldn't tell what exactly it was. The newcomer was also throwing frustrated and annoyed looks towards the Slytherin table for some reason.

Harry glanced over his shoulder and noticed a very unhappy looking Malfoy. On further investigation, Harry realized that there was an extra Slytherin at the table.

"Hermione, is that a first year?"

"What?"

"That guy, there." He nodded towards the loud guy sitting next to Draco who appeared to be telling a dramatic story, much to the delight of some of the younger Slytherins and the Ravenclaws a table over. Ron was too busy laughing at Collin Creevy who was sitting sullenly looking very awkward. He kept shifting on his buttocks and glaring at the guy standing next to Flitwick who caught his eye and waved with a wink.

"Still smarting, eh Collin?" Seamus grinned and the glower he received for his comment.

The story had spread quickly through the school after breakfast and had circulated the Griffindor table during lunch. Apparently last night, Collin Creevy and Herbert Stump had gone to get some snacks from Iris and had been caught by the new teacher. He'd given them a humiliating "Russian Correction" which included them bending over his knee in turns and spanked mercilessly with a wood switch. The half-bloods and muggle-borns especially got a kick out of this (something similar had happened to Harry at least a few dozen times).

Up at the head table Dumbledore stood up, ushering a silence through the hall.

"Well, I know some of you have met him already," he glanced at Collin who sunk lower in his seat, "But since all of our new arrivals have finally managed to congregate here, I think it is high time for a full introduction. Ivan Braginsky will be filling the, apparently, much needed position of assistant caretaker to our own Argus Filch."

Ivan smiled and waved at everyone. For some reason, this had an adverse affect and caused the hall to shudder as though a draft had suddenly swept through.

"Hallo everybodies! My name is Ivan, but you can caul me mister Braginsky because if you don't," Here his face seemed to get darker and his voice lowered although he was still smiling, "I will be beating you senseless as is the Russian vey and throwing you into Siberian winter as we are doing to bad childrens in my country."

"….."

"Just kidding!" everyone breathed a sigh of relief, "It is not winter and we are not in Siberia!"

He beamed at all of them but the silence that followed was intense. Harry figured no one would be misbehaving from now on.

"Well, thank you Mr. Braginsky, next is-"

"Hi! I'm-a Felicano Vargas-!"

"YOU WERE ALREADY INTRODUCED LAST NIGHT!"

Snape seemed to have blown a fuse.

"Veee~ I sorrrry!" The Italian cried and started to babble apologies.

"Anyway, Professor Flitwick's new assistant, as you may have noticed, has arrived as well."

The man at the table stood up and looked around shyly.

"Uh, hi, I'm Matthew Williams-eh. I'll be assistant teaching your charms classes. It's really nice to meet you all I'm looking forward to-"

"OH MY GOD! YAHHHH!"

The poor guy found himself drowned out by a scream from the Slytherin table. All heads turned as the dude Harry had noticed before suddenly jumped up and pointed at Nearly Headless Nick, who was showing the first years how he got his name.

This man was a lot taller and older looking than Harry'd originally though. He had to be in his late teens and he wore glasses. Actually, he looked a bit like the Matthew guy…

"Gggg…"

"Oh dear God no." Matthew went pale "No Al- don't-"

"GHOST! MATTIE HELP!"

In less than a blink, he had somehow sprinted to the head table, vaulted it and clung to Mr. Williams like some little kid.

"Oh my god oh my god is it still there ah! It's going to eat me I swear oh this is so messed up Arthur says they don't eat people but what does he know OMG IT"S MOVING!"

"Al… Al.. ALFRED FOR PETE'S SAKE, GET A FRICKIN GRIP ON YOURSELF!"

Everyone stared in shock except for Ivan who had made his way up to the table and whispered something into the alleged Alfred's ear.

"HEY! That's not true you damn Rooskie!" The sudden change was extraordinary.

He had his hands on his hips and was glaring daggers at Ivan who was muttering and glaring darkly back. He then realized he was being watched.

"Oh, hey, hi British People! I'm Alfred F. Jones, the hero! HAHAHAHA! I'm your new dude for History of Magic! Fo realz y'all." He then proceeded to sit down, right on top of Matthew. "Oh yeah and this is Matt, he's my less cool twin and he owes me money! Hahaha! Who's who's underwear now?"

That last remark was really soft and only his brother heard it. The rest, however, was ear shattering and left everyone with the same thought:

Dear Lord, he was American.

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><p><strong>That night<strong>, after he'd managed to get rid of his brother, Matt took a walk to clear his mind. It had been completely embarrassing and a total disaster. Geez, why did Al always have to humiliate him? He strolled through the halls distractedly and didn't realize where he was until he found himself there. It was a small corridor off a main hall and something about it wasn't right. There were two doors, one to his left and one two his right, but both were open. They were empty classrooms, nothing strange about that; it was the end of the corridor that was bothering him.

The nation walked forward curiously. It felt like a draft was coming through the wall, but that couldn't be right. It was only a wall made from the same type of stone as all the others in the castle only, something was off. He felt a slight pounding in his head as he approached it and it increased when he laid his palm against it. Strange…

He shook his head and turned around. He was tired, that was all. There was nothing different about that corridor than any of the others… and yet. As he got into bed that night he remembered another time when he'd been on that same floor in that same hall, but as he tried to think about it more, his head began throbbing. It wasn't connected, it couldn't be but he did remember something strange. When he'd been there the last time… he could have sworn there had been a third door.

TBC...

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><p><strong>Just an FYI, the Underwear comment is a joke from a comic con where someone defended Canada when his English voice actor (who does America too) called him a stupid hat. The voice actor then retaliated with the question "So the rocky mountains are like, the stain or something? That's just gross!" XD sorry for so much OOC text, but I had to clear that up.<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok, I've been procrastinating, but here it is! Thanks for all your reviews, and thank you Simonana for the idea of force feeding a certain teacher!**

**Enjoy and Review if you'd like!  
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><p>It had been a LOOONG day. Matt stripped off his robes and tossed them carelessly on his bed. Once he was in his PJs, he took out his journal and began to write.<p>

_September 4th, 1996_

_Today was my first day actually teaching at Hogwarts. It's interesting. For some reason, even though he's louder and more obvious, people are acknowledging me more than Al. Or at least, they're acknowledging me more as a teacher. I saw him High-Fiving some Griffindors in the hall today… Seamus and Dean I think. Those two are nice boys. Harry Ron and… oh geez… what's her name? I kept messing it up today; I think she understood I was sorry though. Hermione! That's it… __Her__ cause she's a girl,__ My__ because she's in _my _class and knee… well I'm sure I'll remember after the other two parts. _

_ Anyway, those three were supportive to me. When I got lost on the way to charms, they helped me. Gee, this place is like a maze, and it's always changing. Anywho, it turns out Ron has a lot of siblings too he-_

A knock on the door signaled Matt to thrust the journal under his mattress otherwise Al would find it. Another knock and he called out.

"Come in!"

"Heeey America!" Feliciano ran in, tripped over Kumajiro and whacked his head against the bedposts.

"Jeepers! Feli, are you okay?" The Canadian was immediately on his knees next to his clumsy friend. "By the way… It's Matthew… not America or Alfred."

"Germbahemum…"

"What?"

"My face… has a heartbeat." The Italian was sitting up now, gingerly feeling his throbbing forehead in wonder.

"Oookay… I think that's just blood coming to the bruise.. eh."

"Yo Mattie! Feli!" Alfred walked in and plopped down on his brother's bed, blowing hair out of his eyes. "Man, I am BEAT!"

"Huh huh… I wish." Ivan walked in, closing the door behind him. The temperature of the room dropped a few degrees.

"So… ready to start the unofficial official meeting?" Al sat up a little as Feli plopped down next to him, "Dude, your face has a heartbeat!"

"I know right? Ouch!" Al poked it curiously.

"Guys…" Matt sighed and picked up Kumagordo from the chair so he could sit.

"So how was everybodies day being?" Ivan smiled, "I will go first, da? I am having uneventful day then pop! Like magic little blond boy showing PDA in hall gets Russian discipline on the hind end!" He smacked his hands together and laughed happily.

Feliciano looked pale. Matt winced. Alfred's face, on the other hand, lit up.

"Ah! That explains why Dracula ("What?" "Ya know the bratty one with the rat face" "oh, him!ve~") looked so uncomfortable this night! My day was boring and nothing happened much. Haha!" The laugh mimicked his usual one, but was obviously forced, "So, what about you Feli?"

"Ehhhhhhh…"

_Severus Snape was NOT looking forward to teaching with his "assistant" again. Why Dumbledore had to assign him the most annoyingly idiotic boy out of the group, he couldn't fathom. Was it because he had finally gotten the position he'd been trying to get since he'd first come to the school as a teacher? Did Dumbledore STILL not trust him, even after his promise?_

_ As the DADA professor entered the corridor to his classroom before breakfast to set up for the day's instruction, a strange odor his nose. He frowned and opened the door to find an unusual (not to mention unwelcome) sight._

_ The TA was in the corner of the room stirring a boiling cauldron filled with fettuccini noodles. What. The. Hell?_

"_Mister Vargas! What in Merlin's name do you think you are doing?"_

_The young man looked up from putting garlic in the water to beam at his senior professor._

"_I'm-a making pasta, sir!" He saluted comically. Snape was not amused._

"_Why do you need to make pasta when there is perfectly good food on the table, or is it not sophisticated enough for the likes of you?" Snape hissed. _

"_Yup! English food is gross!" And so he answered the rhetorical question as he drained the water out the window, infuriating the fuming professor even more._

"_You wanna try some? One second!"_

_He moved over to another cauldron, (Snape hadn't noticed it when he'd come in) which apparently held the sauce, and ladled some sauce on to the plate of pasta he'd just made._

"_Mr. Vargas, I am not going to eat pasta at seven in the morning. You are given perfectly good food three times a day and should be grateful that Albus Dumbledore puts up with this nonsense at all! And furthermore, using my room to cook your filthy pasta is mmph!"_

_The professor's dangerously quiet rant was interrupted by a forkful of fettucine alfredo fresh from it's bronze cauldron and steaming from the crisp morning. Feliciano, apparently oblivious of the choking teacher beamed happily._

"_See, now-a maybe you can finally smile!"_

_As soon as he could breath again, the professor quivered with rage._

"_Mr. Vargas?"_

"_Hmm?"_

"_GET THE BLOODY HELL OUT OF MY CLASSROOM!"_

_It seems the Italian was successful in making the teacher show some emotions, unfortunately not the ones he'd hoped for._

"_Yahhhh!I'm-a so sorry!" Feli ran crying out, apologizing and waving his arms… like usual._

_ Severus Snape sighed and breathed heavily. As soon as he was calmed down slightly, his eyes wandered to the plate of pasta Feliciano had left. His hand, with a mind of its own, crawled to the fork and lifted another mouthful to his lips. Damn, that was good pasta._

Alfred was crying and rolling on the bed with laughter.

"Y-you force-fed that stiff limey PASTA! Hahahahahahahaha! Oh man that is RICH!" He fell off backwards, pulling Matt's sheets and pillows down with him, still laughing. Matt smiled slightly and tried to keep from laughing out loud like his brother. Ivan was bent over, leaning with one hand on the wardrobe chuckling madly.

"Huh huh huh! For once I agree with the American, but Alfred. I heard a very _interesting _story in the hall about _your _first day."

The laughter in the corner stopped and a long silence followed. Finally, he broke it with a muffled mumble.

"Teachs agohost."

"What?"

"I said," His head popped up behind the bed, "The teacher's a ghost."

This took a second to sink in. Feli still looked at him with his head cocked to one side. He didn't know about Al's fatal flaw. But the other two did.

Matt bit his lip so hard he cried. Laughing would be so mean, but it was just so so…

"Pfffft!" He clapped a hand over his mouth and buried his head in a pillow.

Ivan cracked a smile as huge as the moon, but before he could open his mouth, Al chucked a pillow at his head.

"Yeah yeah, so it was a bit uncomfortable. So what." He spat and glared at Russia. The latter's eyes darkened. Matt and Feli shivered as the room suddenly seemed frozen as the two "superpowers" faced off in silent debate, the first phase.

Thankfully, a knock on the door made them all jump, breaking the tension and keeping everyone's blood INSIDE their veins.

Matt jumped up to get it.

"Come in!"

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><p><strong>Luna <strong>entered the room and looked around before resting her eyes on Feliciano who seemed oddly pale from something.

"Hello. I came to talk to Professor Vargas about a defense question I have. Could we go somewhere to talk, maybe?"

"Of course, uh, Luna, right? Yeah! Sure!" He jumped at the opportunity to escape the still fading tension between his colleagues.

Before they left, Luna looked around the room, her eyes landing on each man in turn. Matt, who was suddenly self conscious in his Moose PJs; Al, who waved and glared at Ivan; and Ivan who smiled back at her but whose smile suddenly fell and he opened his eyes in puzzlement.

"Goodbye guys! See you tomorrow! Hasta la Pasta!" Feli laughed awkwardly and closed the door.

The three remaining nations looked at each other in silence.

"Did you guys… umm feel anyting whan she luked at you?"

"Yeah, it was weird. Kinda creepy. Oh right, I'm still mad at you, so this doesn't count as agreeing, kay?"

"Never said it did. What about you, Canada? You "Get the Jibe?""

"Eh, yeah. It was like… it was like she _knew."_

They all stared at each other and shook their heads simultaneously.

"Nah."

"Nope."

"No way she could have… guessed… could she?"

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><p>"<strong>So <strong>what's your question? Gee, it's freezing in here… brr!"

Feli's hands were firmly in his pockets and he shivered. The empty classroom had no heating and it was getting to him.

"Well that rules out Vampire, but I didn't expect it anyway. You have none of the qualities..."

"What?" He started to get a chilly feeling that went beyond the cold, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you don't have to hide from me anymore. It's all right, I won't tell anyone."

He opened his eyes wide, startled.

"What-what are talking about I'm not hiding anything…" He was nervous now. This couldn't be.

"Oh don't be silly," She smiled honestly, "I know you're an immortal, that's all."

Oh no, not good... not good at all.

**The ENd! JK, more to come. Next chapter should be the last. Love you All and thanks for being a great crew of readers!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Filler Chappie is Filler!**

**Thank you guys so much for your continued support of this fanfic! Forty Four reviews, wow! If we get up to seventy five by the end, I might even extend the fanfic in a sequel for year seven! This will not be the last chapter, maybe second to last, but it is filler because you guys have waited so long and it might be a while before the next chapter arrives. Consider this your "appetizer chapter." I just wanted to let you all know that this has NOT been dropped, even though it may seem that way. This is a pretty short chapter, but I hope you still enjoy it!**

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><p>The radio crackled in the kitchen as Arthur's tea came to a boil. It was snowing outside, and dark. Around eleven PM on the twenty fourth of December.<p>

_Deck the halls with balls of holly-_

"FALALALAL la la la LAH!"

Arthur jumped, nearly spilling the peppermint tea he'd been in the process of pouring.

"Jesus Christ Scott! Do you want me to burn myself?" He snapped at his brother, resisting the urge to hit him with the teapot.

"Actallly, that don't sound like too bad an idea…"

"Forgive me for asking then. What do you want?"

"What, am I not allowed to simply want to say hi to my little brother? Is that SO wrong?"

"A. You aren't my brother, B. we live in the same house and C, you're stepping on my foot."

"Ah, sorry," He didn't remove his foot "Still, it's gonna be awful quiet around here this year, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

Arthur pulled out a kitchen chair and sat down, careful not to spill his drink. Scottland wrinkled his nose at England's tea and instead took a swig from his trusty brandy bottle.

"I mean, the ol' gang's all busy. Yer kids are both at Hogwarts this year, oh well the two that matter, anyway. They're staying up there, right?"

"Yes, but America rarely comes over for Christmas and Canada's usually with France so I don't see- ah!"

England winced and put a hand to his forehead as a pain shot through it.

"Damn. They can't even give it a rest for Christmas?"

"Are you okay Artie?" Scottland suddenly dropped his usual swagger and knelt down next to the suffering nation.

It hadn't been good. Fenrir greyback's attacks had gotten more extreme and the task of covering up werewolf involved murders was not an easy one. And the death eater's use of National Magic was affecting all of the brits. Scott had been getting more (alcohol unrelated) headaches than ever and Wales' back was killing him. England, however, was taking the brunt of the situations. Every unforgivable curse was felt by him; this one was obviously an imperio curse.

"God, who are they using now? What poor muggle is about to drown himself or jump off a building? God Damn!" He stood up suddenly, looking around with a slightly crazed expression "I can't do this anymore! I have to do something, stop them anything!" England rushed towards the front door, but was tackled by Scott.

"Oh no you don't! We don't need a paralyzed nation, who'd do your work for you?"

England struggled against his brother but went limp in despair.

"It's useless. I can't do anything without risking everything and… uh…oh dear lord no no no!" He managed to free himself from Scotland's grip and rush to the bathroom before violently throwing up in the toilet.

"Artie?" Scott stood outside the room, not wanting to know what exactly had happened.

"A- a whole… oh God. Scotland they, they- a whole family! Lord no, no…" He moaned, coming out of the room, leaning heavily against the wall, "Christmas eve, the children! They- knives! I saw it, all of it… just just make it end, oh God, make it end!"

Arthur fell to the ground, sobbing, then the sobs turned to coughing and hacking. The thick red stained phlegm came up, soiling the sleeves of Arthur's robe. More came and his body shuddered as the death eaters'cast a killing curse on the family's neighbors who had come to investigate the strange noises.

Then, silence. He sat there, slumped against the wall for a long time, staring at the drying blood on his palms. Scotland sat with him, saying nothing. Wales eventually brought a tray of tea and, after exchanging a look with Scotland, left it on the ground and went off to tuck the boys into bed. Scott looked at his seemingly mute brother nation with an expression of pity and worry.

"Haha!" England broke the silence with a dark, bitter laugh, glaring at the wall, "Hahaha! A Merry Christmas indeed!" He spat to the side, a new red stain for the carpet, "Enjoy it now you sick monsters,"

the air seemed to freeze around them as England clenched his fists and growled out his next words in the ominous, venom filled tone Scott had only heard him use once before, "Because as soon as Harry realizes his powers, I'll personally assure that he uses them to send you all direct to Hell."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N In the spirit of the Holidays, I decided to gift you guys part one of the last part of National Magic. Because I want to get this up, I decided to cut the thing up, yet again. In other words, this installation neither ends in a cliffhanger nor an important moment... well a sorta cliffhanger anyway. Fun to write, but moreso just a leadup to the last installation. Don't forget; 75 reviews by the end and you guys get a sequel. I love all of you, you are a great following (and my first real one) so please enjoy, and tell yer friends. And btws, if any of you want to do a partner fic or fanart go ahead! I might even give a special prize to the first person to link me to their work. Spoiler; this chappie has a bit of language so please keep that in mind. Oh and, Iris is an OC. Love you all! ENjoy!**_  
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><p><em>December 24, 1996<em>

_ I haven't written since the start of winter break, I know. It's been crazy. Alfred has been even crazier with school out than normal; I'm constantly chasing after that doofus to keep him from getting in even more trouble with Filch. Why did he have to come, why? I don't have any time to myself between babysitting Al and trying to learn what I'm helping to teach. _

_ For instance, I still haven't investigated that hallway yet; something always keeps me from being able to. Most of the time it's Al. Putting that moron in a dormitory with a bunch of teenagers was not a good idea at all. He's immature as it is. And what's more, he won't stop complaining about not being in the "hero dorm," how many times do I have to remind him that that was his choice? Why won't he leave Malfoy alone. Can't he understand that using a permanent sticking charm to attach a sign saying "Hello my name is Pussy " is not only inappropriate behavior, but dangerous? Jesus! Out of all the brothers I could have got, I got him…_

_ God, I'm tired. It's been a crazy few months and I haven't been sleeping well at all. Kids are getting hurt, too. There are more werewolf attacks reported every day now; some children here have even lost family members. I can see why Dumbledore wanted reinforcement. Twice this week I caught Malfoy stalking around past curfew. I have a bad feeling about that kid he's very suspic-_

Not a single one of Matt's journal entries that year had been finished. This time his eyes failed to hold themselves open and he threw down his quill in annoyance. There was no point in trying to write when he was more than half asleep.

_I'll finish it tomorrow…_He thought half-heartedly. Kumaguapo was already asleep on the end of his bed, pinning the blankets beneath him. Matt raised his wand and levitated them (sleeping bear included) just enough so that he could slip beneath the covers before gently putting the whole thing down again. Kuma was never the wiser. A moment after his wand and glasses had been neatly placed on the bedside table; Matthew zonked out and entered his now familiar dream.

_He was in the corridor again, looking at the door. Always in the dreams, he walked toward it but it never opened. He never even got close enough since the door seemed to recede before him. He kept walking anyway. Sometimes, Matt even went into a sprint, trying to literally chase his dream._

_This time, however, it was slightly different. He took a step to start the chase but was stopped in his tracks by two children who barreled past him, nearly knocking him off balance._

"_Hey!-"_

_He stopped. It was him and Al from their first time at Hogwarts._

_The two kids reached the doo rand Alfred reached for the knob. _

"_We can hide in her! that old man will never think to look behind this door!"_

"_That's because the hallway is marked off limits Alfie!"_

"_So? That just makes it more fun!" _

_The door slowly opened and Matthew felt a sense of dread as a foul wind blew from the darkness beyond. He tried to call out to the two boys, but his body was frozen. Then they were inside, the door was closed, and it was too late. A heavy feeling of being unable to breath enveloped Matt then and he-_

Woke up to find Al sitting on his chest.

"MEERRRRYYY CHRISTMAAAASS!"

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><p><strong>Feliciano <strong>had had a hard time of it. Trying to fit in with the other teachers was impossible, especially since his boss professor seemed to hate him. Feli couldn't think of why; he had tried to be very nice and hadn't even spoken in class since the first week of school. Actually, he really didn't do much assisting at all. Aside from handing out assignments and cleaning up after class (he was very good at cleaning, aside from cooking it was his specialty! ve~) there wasn't much he was able to do anyway. He knew nothing about D.A.D.A. aside from what he had learned from dealing with Romania and a few English curses he had had to endure during World War two. And Mister Snape was scary! It was worse than with Germany or even Russia…. wait no Russia was scarier. Feli shivered at the memory of the Barbarosa Campaign. Baaad times.

But aside from Snape and Professor McGonagall (she was an intimidating lady) hew was having fun being at Hogwarts. Luna was really interesting, if not a bit loony. Sure she knew about them, but she had promised not to tell. It wouldn't matter whether or not she meant to keep her promise, Feliciano would believe her. The others didn't know she knew, though. If he told Russia bad things were sure to happen. He didn't want his new friend at the mercy of that guy… Nobody deserved to be at the mercy of that guy. Except maybe this Voldemort fellow, he seemed like a douche. That was how Iris had described him, anyway. She was kinda weird, even weirder than Luna. He was actually on his way to see her right now.

The hallways were just starting to grow a bit lighter with dawn leaking through the windows and stroking the living portraits with its soft fingers.

"Goodmorning, Mister Vargas! And a jolly Christmas to you as well,"

"Hi Iris! Why did you want to see me so early?"

"Several reasons. The first being that Luna gave me something for you," She reached into her cloak pocket and pulled out a small brown package, "she left it for me the day before break with instructions to only let you have it on Christmas."

The package traded hands and Feliciano looked at it with interest.

"That was nice of her."

"Wasn't it? So I guess you're staying on for the whole of break then?"

"Yes; Mister Dumbledore wanted us to "keep an eye on things." I don't think anyone would do bad things on Christmas, though,"

"Hrm, I guess so."

"What about you? Aren't you going home to your family?"

"Nope. Me Mum and dad don't know I'm alive and the only real family I had died last year," she smiled sadly "But don't worry about me Mister Vargas, I've got everything I need here," she gestured to the castle around them "Me beau is the only thing missing. Which brings me to the other reason I called you down: about Luna, I think she fancies you.

"Whaaaaa? Really?" He stared at her in disbelief

"She won't quit talking about you when she visits the kitchen. Keeps goin' on about her theories about you and your friends; vampires, fire people… don't make no sense to me anyway. Plus, have you ever noticed how she seems to know exactly where you are? A bit odd. I could be wrong, but I just thought you should know so you don't accidently lead her on. Anyway, I should be going. I've got to get an owl out to Fred ASAP. See you at the banquet, Mister Vargas."

"….. Wait what did you say about her theories- Iris?"

She had disappeared around the corner by the time he could regain his tongue. Feli looked down at the package and decided to wait to open it until he was in his room. Turning around, he found himself face to face with Russia.

"Oh, hello Feliciano. Were you takink a wolk as well?" He smiled and Feli flinched.

"Ah, yeah… so Merry Christmas? You celebrate Christmas, right? Oh, heh heh, how silly of me of course you do! I was just-a talking to a friend…ve…"

"That is nice," He put a hand on the Italian's shoulder, "It is good to have friends, da?"

"Da, I mean, si signor… oh wow, look at the time I have to go do… a thing…"

Feli scampered away, leaving the Russian staring after him in befuddlement.

"Hmm. Oh well, some people are strange, da?" He smiled and went on his way.

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><p><strong>It was<strong> the day before the end of break and students had started trickling back in. Alfred stretched out on his four poster and stared off into the distance. He missed his homeland; much less rain. The castle was neat and all, but he preferred the bright and airy feel of his own house. He hoped Jersey remembered to take the horses out for rides every now and then, not that she'd forget. Chick was crazy about everything equine.

Al rolled over and pushed his hair back as he sat up, shirtless. Then Malfoy walked in.

"Woah, dude you've got some weird timing!"

"Dammit! Why couldn't you have gone back to your bloody America by now? We don't need you here!"

"Says the guy so desperate he hits on ghost chicks."

"Shut up! At least I don't have a childish fear of them… unlike _some _people."

"Watch it dude," America pointed at him threateningly, "You don't know what I've been through regarding ghosts."

"Oh yeah, and what terrible thing is it that happened to you as a kid that makes you fear harmless spirits as a grown man?"

"Harmless? Hah!" Al laughed bitterly and Malfoy stared at him in shock. Al's whole tone had suddenly changed; he was like a different person "Kid, when you see your brothers drop around you by the hundreds and hear their voices in your dreams and see the blood on your hands from the millions who have died because of you, then you can come back to me and call spirits 'harmless'. See you at breakfast, McCoy."

And Malfoy stared after him with a furrowed brow. It was confusing to describe the emotion rushing through his brain. Maybe it was just confusion itself... Draco shook his head and sneered.

"If he thinks he can scare me with some stupid fable he really must be a fool."

But in reality, Draco was unhinged. There was something about the look in Alfred's eyes that told him everything he had said was true. But what did that mean?

And then another thought crossed his mind, "suppose I am successful and can kill _him, _will his voice haunt my dreams? No, stop stop!" He squeezed his eyes shut and knealt on the floor in anguish. "You can't afford to have second thoughts; you have to go through with it now. If you don't… if you don't he'll kill you."

And he tried to ignore the last part of that train of thought, but it persisted. He picked himself off the floor and tried to forget that 'I don't want to do it' had even crossed his mind.

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><p><strong>Days passed <strong>into weeks then months went by as things began speeding up and becoming more extreme. The latest attempt on Dumbledore's life had demanded an investigation and Russia had been set on a 24/7 guard. No one wanted to cross him in the hallway which was probably best since it kept students from wandering at night. Harry had a special pass for his sessions with Dumbledore and Kumajiro just didn't count. The bear was constantly under everybody's feet as he roamed around looking for snacks. Many questions had cropped up regarding his presence at Hogwarts so it was probably best that he practiced selective muteness while there. Mattie hadn't heard him speak for five months… it was actually pretty creepy.

OWLs were coming closer, as was something else. The whole staff was tense, especially the four nations. Unlike other normal people, they were aware of the full dangers facing the world at large if Voldemort was successful. This was because, in early March, England had come to check up on their situation. He was in bad condition. It was pitiful how weak he looked which was a good thing in one respect. His neighbor had come along with him and they hadn't argued even once while he had been at the school. That was a bad sign, but she alright. Aside from looking a bit paler than usual (if that was possible) and having a limp, Ireland seemed to be strong enough all things considered. She didn't look happy though. Alfred had had a conversation with her alone and had learned that England's state was worse than they'd thought. He'd been talking to himself in the middle of the night and had been seeing things that weren't there. Al thought that that was pretty normal, but Brigit had assured him that they were thinking two different things.

"Unicorns, fairies, and Flying mint bunnies are real and I'm surprised you haven't figure that out yet, I'm talking old memories and dead generals, stuff like that."

The meeting had been pretty pointless since Dumbledore knew exactly who was behind the attempts and seemed to not want to tell the four there anything. Arthur also knew something he wasn't letting on to, but not even Matt could draw it out of him. Overall, seeing Proud old Britain shaking like an old man and jumping at little sounds had done nothing but depress the North American brothers and increase the overall tension. Before he left though, Arthur had demanded to see Harry. _That _had been a strange encounter.

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><p>Harry had been called from History of Magic to McGonagall's office without any warning that day. Ron was still in the Infirmary by that point but Hermione watched him go uneasily. Al had watched Hermione watch Harry walk out the door from where he was perched on the edge of Binns' desk. He stalked over to her and nonchalantly whispered.<p>

"Go ahead Granger, maybe it will help your research."

She looked up at him in surprise.

"What are you talking about Mister Jones?"

"You know, looking up dates, names, stuff about us. Don't think I haven't noticed you taking notes on my behavior. I've been to enough psychiatrists to know observers when I see them," He winked and yawned loudly, much to the Professor's irritation and to the class' amusement. He addressed the professor now, in a speaking voice instead of his previous whisper "So, I don't really get it… what was the point of seducing her half brother again?"

"What?"

"You know, Morgause. The whore witch lady?"

"Mister Jones I am teaching about the Gringotts crash of 1834-"

"YEAHHH, but King Arthur's times were way more interesting. What about Morgan Le Fey? I hear SHE was a real fox ;)."

"Mister Jones I am teaching about- where did Miss Granger go?"

"I dunno, bathroom. Or do you call it the loo? Do ghosts even go to the bathroom? How would that work btws?"

"Mister Jones! I understand you American's are curious by nature, but that gives you no right to be rude!"

"Hey, hey, don't get offended! I'm just wondering. Like you said, my peeps is curious by nature."

"Is it just me, or is this class way more interesting now that we don't learn anything?"

"Mister Thomas, please hold your tongue!"

"Yeah Dean! You better not let that sucker get loose or you won't be able to eat anymore of them English 'pies'."

"MISTER JONES!"

It takes real talent to piss off a ghost professor.

* * *

><p>"You wanted to see me Professor?"<p>

"Hello Mr. Potter. This is Lord Kirkland, an old friend of mine."

"Hello Harry. You really have grown up since I saw you last."

Green on green their eyes met and the man smiled. This was all he had needed, really. The plan was set in stone now that he had seen his last hope in the flesh. That knowledge gave him the strength to get up and shake the boy's hand before he abruptly turned around and left the office, coming face to face with Hermione Granger. He eyed her for a moment then bent close to her ear, brushing her hair aside. He straightened up again, looked around for Ireland (who muttered an apology to the Professor, Hermione and Harry) and the two of them dissaparated.

Hermione stared after the two for a moment in speechlessness then found her voice at last.

"Aren't you not supposed to be able to do that?"

"Lord Kirkland can bypass a few of the protective spells of Hogwarts, Miss Granger. The school knows we'll never have anything to fear from him. If he has to get here quickly, aparation is the quickest way. Now please, return to your class both of you. I suppose Mister Jones will be causing a commotion as we speak... do you really want to miss it?"


	7. Chapter 7

**HEEEEEEYYYYYY! Second Part should be in as you read this. Title: Hallowed Ground. By the way, 106 reviews thank you all so frigging much!**

**This is the final chapter of part one. There WILL be a part two so keep checking up. Thank you for 87 reviews so far. I love all of you so much. As always, enjoy!**

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><p>"<em>Mr. England?"<em>

"_Yes my boy?"_

_Arthur had looked up from his reading and down at the child. Alfred was very pale and visibly shaking. His caretaker was out of his chair in a second flat._

"_Alfred, what happened!?"_

_He felt his son's forehead with the back of his hand: it was burning and the boy's nose was dripping blood. _

"_I feel really yucky…wh-what? What are they d-doing" The blue eyes got round with fear as he stared off into nothingness "G-goody Good? But what is she, what are they doing no no stop STOP!" He began to scream and the nosebleed got worse. Eventually it stopped when young Al cried himself to sleep._

_ It was a powerful bond, that between citizens and their nation. When magic or mass executions or things of the sort were in play, it got even worse. Even at the time, Arthur couldn't help but think of the first time the national magic had plagued him…but that hadn't been relevant. Three days after Alfred's initial attack, it was evident that the trials were not simply a short span and would continue. Arthur couldn't bear to see his favorite son hurting so badly._

_ "Alfred?"_

_ "F-father?"_

_It wasn't what he wanted to be called… better the child didn't know the truth at this point…but if Alfie's fevered brain decided he was his "father" there was no getting around it. _

_ "Here son, drink this."_

_The smell didn't go over well and the boy struggled to keep his mouth closed._

_ "ewww!"_

_ "Good, it's nice to know you can be difficult even in sickness. Come on, open up there's a good boy."_

_ "Nuh uh!"_

_ "Alfred, why would you refuse your auntie's yummy medicine? It's not as bad as it smells."_

_ The toddler opened a single eye from where he was flopped half out of England's grasp._

_ "Auntie Brigit made this?"_

_ "Yes."_

_ "So… you didn't make it?"_

_ "No-"_

_ "Okay!"_

_He downed the entire mug in one gulp and Arthur tried to not be to peeved about the comment on his cooking. All things considered, it had been a miracle that the wench had complied to make the draught. She was still a bit… miffed… from well… Anyway he was glad she had agreed to it, even though the drink wasn't important in itself._

_ "Okay, have you drunk it all?"_

_ "Yes sir."_

_ "Now, I'm about to give you something that… an old friend…gave me long ago. It is very special and I want you to promise you'll take good care of it."_

_ "Yes Sir!" _

_He looked excited; England smiled a little. All right, close your eyes and open your hands…_

* * *

><p>England sat bolt upright and put a hand to his forehead. Cold sweat again: how surprising. And the dream wasn't frightening or even shocking. It was his realization that woke him. Now he knew what he was going to do. But first….<p>

It was the beginning of the end. Feliciano stared numbly at the form in the grass. A thousand years of war and death and the sight of a boy clinging to a corpse still stopped his breath.

Ivan ran up to the Italian: blood gushing down his forehead and staining his overcoat.

"Some of them got away, I think."

"What about-?"

"Still I cannot find them," He grimaced, "The bear is badly hurt. Mat-hew will not be being happy."

"Kuma!?'

"Zat wolf man did it. They fought. Little bear was very brave. He is safe with the kind nurse lady. You yourself are needing to be seeing her as well."

"Not before you go I mean… if you want to…"

"Hmm?"

"You're… uh bleeding?"

"Oh?" He swiped the back of his hand across his face and finally noticed the blood "Oh. So I am. Your arm is more important though, go get it fixed."

"But-"

"That was not a request, Italy."

"V-ve? Ok, umm, just… take care of yourself…. Eek!"

As Italy backed away from his intimidating almost friend he felt something soft and hot brush the top of his head. The large scarlet bird nearly took off his head in its swoop to rest on the ledge directly above its master. Fawkes was only the first of a trickle of Hogwarts residents coming to inspect the horrible scene under the astronomy tower. Harry was eventually pulled away from his dead mentor and taken to the hospital wing for shock, but Ivan stayed behind to watch over the headmaster. It was his duty. He would carry it out until the bitter end.

The bitter end being, in this particular case, when he passed out from blood loss.

* * *

><p>The day had started out normal for the most part. The one strange thing was Dumbledore's request of Matthew to guard the door to the astronomy tower until midnight. Then the order changed to "protect the students." That was for all four of them to follow. As Alfred would have said, the shit was about to go down.<p>

They all knew it and were on edge from lunchtime onward. Ivan was pacing restlessly and muttering back and forth in the headmaster's corridor. The students were scared out of their minds when he so much as glanced in their direction. Not to say, of course, that the students were usually comfortable around him. His presence in the school slightly dampened the post final high everyone but the four nations and many professors were experiencing.

And then there was Al. If you didn't know him, you wouldn't really see a change. Matthew was one of the few to realize that Alfred became more of a spaz with tension. And the tension in this case was so thick you could, "slice off a few chunks and put in on a ham and rye sand which as extra flavoring." Al's metaphors also got increasingly worse in a direct proportion to the situation.

Italy… well in truth Matthew didn't know him as well as the others. He was jumpier than usual though, and he seemed to dart out of a room as soon as the Lovegood girl entered. Matt just shrugged it off as nervous behavior but internally wondered if something was up between them. It WAS known that Italians were one of the most romantic groups in the world…. Er, no. Matt decided not to go there, even in his mind.

Being outwardly the most levelheaded of his small group, Matt was the natural choice to be on guard. As a consequence, when all hell broke loose, Matt was caught in the very middle.

* * *

><p>They were heading towards the tower as he was heading away. He recognized the student right away and was about to say something when a flash of green light caught him in the chest and threw him backwards. There was a loud argument and Matt was vaguely aware of being lifted up and falling, but he couldn't feel anything else. It was an odd feeling… he could see but couldn't make sense of anything, or feel anything for that matter. That was about the time he realized which curse had been cast.<p>

"MATTHEW!"

Alfred's scream woke the rest of Slytherin and debatably the kitchen staff in the next dungeon over as well. He was bolt upright and searched around for his wand before leaping from his four poster and nearly flying out of the dungeon, raving and calling his brother's name.

"Thank God for empathy links. Please don't be too late, dammit Matt."

His left eye showed him the location and his right the corridor through which he sprinted, ignorant of all surroundings but the ones that mattered. The garbage chute outside the entrance to the Astronomy tower. There were screams and crashes from over his head, but Alfred didn't give a shit. He grabbed the upholstery blocking the secret chute (he remembered it from when they first came: before modern toilets, this was where waste from chamber pots went to be collected) and jumped in feet first.

* * *

><p>Ivan wasn't able to grab America before he jumped. He was, however, able to catch the first death eater to come down the stair and land a connection to his skull with old faithful. The sink pipe broke something (all Ivan knew was the satisfying crack of metal on bone) and the young man went writhing to the floor. Professor Severus appeared, glanced at the struggling body and took off down the hall. Ivan grinned, knowing that the good teacher was undoubtedly going to raise the alarm and get back up. In the meantime, he could go join the fun on the tower steps.<p>

* * *

><p>Feliciano coughed as the boot sunk into his gut again, with a cackle from its owner. He had been here, at the balcony beneath the tower top, all night and seen everything. At least, he had seen the old man's body fall past him as he stared out in the direction of his homeland. Now it seemed the world was filled with pain and laughing, masqueraders.<p>

"That's right, squirm you muggle filth!"

" Maybe that'll teach you not to interfere with things you don't understand!"

"But Crabbe, isn't that everything."

"Don't be clever Goyle, it doesn't suit you. Crucio!"

Feliciano yelped at the jolt of pain that brought stars to his eyes and had to shake his head before it went away. He heard Crabbe curse and saw his reach out to slam him against the wall. So he ducked and the boy tumbled forward, nearly falling on top of him.

"Curse you!"

This time Crabbe was successful in grabbing Feliciano by the neck and lifting him into the air.

"What do we do with you?"

"You're very angry, want to talk about it? Ack!"

Apparently that wasn't going to work as well as it did with his brother which, come to think of it, wasn't very successful anyway.

Somewhere, on an Italian terrace, Romano sneezed. Too bad he was eating pasta at the time.

"Dammit-!"

"-You're in no position to talk! Do you know how many times I had to parade through the halls on Malfoy's arm? As a bloody GIRL?! And now we're finally about to get the payout and what am I doing? Arguing with a filthblooded Italian who doesn't know when to- SHUT THE BLOODY HELL UP GOYLE!"

"But Crabbe, The Order-"

"I don't care about the bloody order!"

"But they'll find us with him-"

"No they won't."

And with that he tossed Italy over the edge of the balcony and into the nothingness of the night.

* * *

><p>"Matt! Matt wake up!"<p>

"Ungh…."

"Oh thank the big guy!"

Matthew finally got the feeling back into his body only to have it squeezed out again in a massive bearhug from his brother.

"Crushing me-"

"Oh, whoops. You okay, bro?"

"I… yes. How did you find me?"

"Empathy link… Arthur put it on us years ago, don't you remember?"

"What?"

"…. Nevermind."

"Al-"

"Sorry, I spaced out, were you saying something?"

"I-Nevermind…"

'HA Ha! Guess you lost your thought! Oh well, lets see… where are we?"

Al looked around, ignoring his brother's annoyed looks. He was just glad the Canadian hadn't broken any bones in his fall. The chute had been disconnected centuries ago, so now it just dropped you on to the floor below.

Matthew knew where they were, he could feel the draw from just being in the proximity. The draft was obvious from where they sat.

"Al, I've been meaning to ask you, do you remember a door being at the end of this hallway?"

His brother turned around and narrowed his eyes.

"You… you don't remember that either?"

"What?"

"Come on. I guess the spell never wore off after all."

"Spell, what spell-"

He grabbed Mathew's arm gently and pulled him to the dead end of the corridor, looked it up and down then pulled out his Swiss army knife. He fumbled with it for a moment the jabbed the blade between a section of brick and cut a pair of bricks out. He did that again directly across from the ones he had taken out. Then he drop-kicked the section between the two and the whole thing shattered.

* * *

><p>Russia only saw the last few moments of the conflict, but it was enough.<p>

"Protect the students… but you didn't say _how._"

"How" translated into knocking them unconscious and tying them back to back. He left them on the balcony, locked the door behind him and made for the stairs. Something knocked into him, though he didn't see it, and he tripped backwards. Ivan only tumbled a few steps before he broke his fall, but things didn't improve when he stood up. There was someone on the landing above him who looked like he REALLY wanted to come down. So much so that he leapt at the Russian with bared and bloody fangs, sending both of them crashing down to the next landing, pipe against teeth. Fenrir Greyback managed to get in a good slash at Ivan before he was thrown off, yelping down the tower stairs. Ivan tried to follow, but a stupefy caught him off guard. When he next came to, (five minutes later when released by a lovely young woman with a heart shaped face) he made his way down the tower and out to the grounds as quickly as possible. Italy was his first concern, and he was incredibly grateful to find him mostly intact.

* * *

><p><em>The room was set up like a theatre with benches surrounding the sunken stage. <em>

_ "I don't like this, Alfie…Alfie?"_

_His brother was making his way down the steps and up to the veil before Matthew could finish his thought. He shrugged off his hesitation and followed his twin. Alfred ran around to the other side just as Mattie reached him._

_ "Hey-"_

_ "Woah check it out! Someone left a pocket watch on the bench over here! It's got gems all over!"_

_ "Really?"_

_Instead of taking time to go around the way his brother had, Mattie had grabbed the veil to pull it aside and go through the archway as a shortcut._

* * *

><p>"I remember now… all the dead. They… came back. Everyone who had ever died within my borders. I saw them die and their shades. All at once. Even those who hadn't died yet."<p>

He was sitting in the middle of the sloping, empty room. The whispers seemed to reach at him, even now.

"You were screaming and clawing at yourself. It was terrifying. I couldn't sleep for months. "

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask. At the time, Arthur told me not to say anything. You were happy not remembering and I didn't want to see you like that again."

"So he used a memory charm?"

"Potion, actually. It was hard to get you to drink; I had to hold you down. After you had your breakdown, they moved the room somewhere and sealed the door to keep out any residue. Apparently you overloaded it or something."

"And you knew."

"Yep."

"All this time you knew and still acted like you didn't believe in magic?"

"I've faked a lot of things for people I love. 'Sides, it pissed the crap out of Arthur. He thought I'd forgotten or something, which would be understandable since I was only a collection of colonies."

"Al."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

* * *

><p>He rummaged through the chest in desperation. Part of him wanted to be caught but that part was dwarfed by the part that didn't. Finally, his fingers closed on the cold round metal. Arthur ran his thumb over the familiar grooves and felt the strength coming back to him.<p>

"Hello old friend."

England slipped the amulet around his neck and stood. It had been over a thousand years since he'd worn it but that didn't matter. Now that he had it he would be protected from National Magic. Now that he had it he could do something to help.

He slipped the note into the old chest and closed it. It was unlikely Alfred would search for the old shield and even more unlikely he would find the note among all this clutter.

England turned and walked out of the shed.

"Good luck, Harry," He whispered to the wind, "We'll both need it."

And then he was gone.


	8. Announcement and Preview

**Hello All!**

**It's been a long time since the last update on this story (2 years maybe?) Anyway, I wanted to let all of you know that the second part IS up. You can find it here: s/9427812/1/Hallowed-Ground**

**I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported this story, and I do intend to continue the second part, though it has been forever since I updated it. Updates will be very sporadic, my life is very sporadic, so please bear with me.**

**Thank you once again.**

**~MysticDayze**

**Also, this story gets off to a stupid start because I wrote it so long ago and it was a bit rushed. Once again, I apologize and please bear with me.**

**Preview:**

"I want to know what you know."

McGonagal had her back turned to the four nations. Her hands were shaking but she was steady as always; Ivan was impressed. She must have nerves of steel, this woman. Maybe her blood is Russian.

Feliciano's arm was in its sling still… that worried Ivan. Surely the bone must have healed after two weeks? They were nations after all. But… then again… the Italian probably had not had the nerves to heal himself at the usual pace. His nerves seemed shot after having to stay in a closet with Matthew for so long. And the whole incident with the dying man, that maybe had affect as well.

"So. Albus had you all stationed by the tower on the night he… on the night it was attacked. That is no coincidence. And Mr. Vargas, I think you have some explaining to do as well."

If looks could kill… even Ivan felt a bit nervous under that gaze. Feliciano was wriggling uncomfortably.

"Ve… it's complicated… umm… I drink a lot of milk?"


End file.
